Section 301 Tariffs Seen as 'Means to an End'
Potential tariffs under the Section 301 investigation should be considered "a means to an end," said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, which represents U.S. steelworkers. "The end result is not to have tariffs, retaliatory tariffs, that are escalating and spiraling, but they should result in some sort of change," Paul said as a panelist at a May 17 Washington International Trade Association event. "Tariffs can't be the only solution. It's not easy to win a trade war, it's not easy at all, but we shouldn't back away from it, because if we do, we're really playing into Beijing's hands."
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Others said World Trade Organization action should be considered instead. The WTO process is not as fast as many would like but its mechanisms can work, as it did in its decision that the European Union improperly subsidized Airbus, said Cal Dooley, CEO of the American Chemistry Council. While that Airbus case took over a decade to reach conclusion, that process helped reduce the prospect of new tariffs when it was initiated, he said.
While trade groups largely agree that China is flouting WTO rules for trade, there remains some debate over whether the use of tariffs is necessary. "I think somehow imagining that China, after 17 years of noncompliance with WTO rules, will somehow reverse and do it is the definition of insanity," Paul said. "We're sitting on an economy where corporations are getting $1.5 trillion in tax cuts, we have pretty robust economy growth, so in a lot of ways there's never been a better way to fight a trade war and this is a very targeted war."